E-Waste: Lack of Info Plagues Efforts to Reduce E-Waste

However, according to a spokesperson for Interpol quoted in The Guardian in spite of the fact that it is legal to export products that have been thrown out as long as they can still be refurbished and put to use in a different form, high levels of electronic waste are being sent to Africa and Asia under false pretenses. "Much is falsely classified as 'used goods' although in reality it is non-functional.

It is often diverted to the black market and disguised as used goods to avoid the costs associated with legitimate recycling," said a spokesman. "A substantial proportion of e-waste exports go to countries outside Europe, including west African countries. Treatment in these countries usually occurs in the informal sector, causing significant environmental pollution and health risks for local populations," he said.

According to the European Environment Agency quoted in the same article, many of the countries confronted with the problem of e-waste are unaware of its magnitude due to lack of information. They have not kept track of the used electronics materials coming onto their shores and have thus not been able to protect themselves from it.

“The worst-case scenario is sending used electronic products to developing countries for disassembly because the methods used in these countries are usually harmful to the health of the people doing the disassembly, and the environment in which they live,” said Randolph Kirchain, senior research scientist in MIT's Engineering Systems Division said in an interview with MIT News. ”The risks only continue to mount as the volumes of electronics used in society continue to grow,” he added.

It is not only a matter of there not being enough information in poorer nations to help deal with the problem -- there is also an information gap as to where this waste is going, whether it is going to the places mentioned in the StEP report or being dumped as the Interpol spokesperson suggests. The problem cannot be dealt with until there is clarity on this question.

StEP estimates worldwide e-waste to increase by 33 percent from 50 million tons in 2012 to 65 million tons by 2017. China and the U.S. lead the world as top producers of e-waste, with China producing 12.2 million tons and the U.S. at 11 million tons. However, America produces about 65 pounds of e-waste per person every year, which is more than the 11 pounds per person China produces.

Meanwhile, measures are being taken to overcome lapses in information however possible. The study was able to generate and collect quantities of e-waste using a sales obsolescence method that included uncertainty, and export quantities were calculated using a trade data approach. The study found that approximately 258.2 million units or 1.6 million tons of used electronics were generated in the US in 2010. Of the amount generated, 66 percent was collected for reuse or recycling purposes. This amounts to about 56 percent of total electronic used products if measured on the basis of weight. Of this total amount collected, the study estimates that 8.5 percent were exported on a unit basis, which is about 3.1 percent on a weight basis.

On a per-weight basis, televisions and monitors dominate the scales as far as quantities of exported used materials go. However, with the current worldwide boom in smartphone sales, mobile phones dominate the generation, collection and export of used electronics on a unit basis, according to the report.

My takeway is the faster/smaller/cheaper ethic of Moore's Law in developing countries drives this e-waster build up, and it seems there hasn't been enough attention to just how fast its rising, where it's going and what can be done about it.

Rick, African countries appear to bear the brunt of the e-waste problem, NOT because they are benefitting from Moore's law, but because the e-waste is shipped to them. The article said that the "used goods" shipped to Africa are mostly non-functional, and therefore are misclassified, to avoid the costs of legitimate recycling.

You can turn in used electronic products at Best Buy stores, for instance. I thought those products were being recycled. This article implies that instead, they may be shipped to developing countries that have a significant "middle class," where they are refurbished and actually reused. Interesting. That's news to me.

Bert, you are quite correct that many developing nations are bearing the brunt of these eWaste. Often lax local regulations and graft from politicians & businesses also have a hand in this play.

One thing governments can do is to provide incentives to recycle and reuse the parts by the same companies that produce them in the first place. I know this is easier said and harder to implement given the chronic off-shoring of hardware manufacturing. There needs to be a model in parts pricing that can make this happen... I do realize many sellers collect recycling fee when one buys an electronic appliance but I wonder how these funds are really used.

We may do what we think is right, taking our used electronics to a major retailer for recycling, but we can't help what happens to them after that. If in fact they are re-purposed in developing nations, that's great. If they are non-functional and are simply recycled for recovery of their valuable ingredients, that's also great. It's only when they are simply thrown in a landfill as-is that the evironment suffers a disservice.

@docdivakar: You might be aware of the situation in India. If not, the following link of an article and the associated comments might help. The realization of the problem and building the awareness just have started here but a far way to go, to catch up with the pace at which the e-waste is building up here. As you have said, the governments has a huge stake in making some kind of regulation and creating infrastructure for collecting e-waste (which is a major pain here now) and taking appropriate action. And some kind of initiatives to the users so as to motivate people to deposit their e-waste through the authentic channels. I believe this could be done through private/public partnership as well once the regulations are in place.

@Sanjib: thanks for the info and I am relieved to know a process is now in place for recycling eWaste in India. My comment below is a generic one and was not addressing any country in particular. I have seen dumping sites in Mexico not too far from US border where eWaste meant for 'recycling' find their resting place! I have also seen similar sites in many Asian countries. I am sure there are plenty of examples like this all over the world, sadly.

I think the environment suffers a disservice is an understatement. This is becoming a huge environmental issue, not to mention an issue with regard to the welfare of the people living in those regions which ultimately is inextricably intertwined with the welfare of their environment.

The prime resonsibility for taking care of eWaste in places like India rests with the Indian government. There must, nhowever, be international cooperation between governments of countries on opposite ends of these eWaste flows. Until that cooperation is in place, it is difficult to not only track the waste but ultimately reduce it.